What to do when you’re not in the mood

“I don’t feel like it” she sighs, staring at the blank screen as it glares back at her accusingly. She desperately wants to be sharing content more consistently. She’d promised herself she’d write a blog today, but it’s such a struggle to get started. So she picks up her phone and begins to scroll as the guilt about what she ‘should’ be doing builds.

We’ve all had moments like that, haven’t we?

We know what we need to be doing, but we’re just not in the mood.

Many of my clients are very intuitive and don’t want to force themselves to work on something when they’re not feeling it. I completely understand. We all want to enjoy our work, to listen to what we need and to feel flow and alignment as we move through our days with ease. That’s the dream, right?

But we need to be careful that we don’t let that sabotage our progress. If we only ever act when we feel like it, there’s a whole load of stuff that simply won’t get done. I mean, how many of us ever feel in the mood to do our tax return? Of course, the ideal solution would be to outsource all the things we find tiresome, which is an approach I wholeheartedly recommend!

But sometimes even the fun stuff and the stuff that only we can do trips us up from time to time. Much as we love it, sometimes we might not be in the mood to engage on social media, create content or spend time working through the online course we were really excited to purchase.

And what do we do then?

I believe we have three choices. The first two are obvious:

1) Do nothing. Save it for another day.

2) Push through and do it anyway.

I’d like to add a third option to the mix:

3) Do what you need to do to get yourself in the mood!

I’ve found myself talking to clients about this third option a lot lately. The idea is that when you really want to get something done but you’re just not in the mood, you create a ritual that stirs the pot and mixes things up a bit. I call this your state-shifting ritual. It’s not about forcing, but about giving yourself what you need to gently coax yourself to a place where you do feel like it.

How to create your own state-shifting ritual

If that feels like something you’d like to play with, here’s what I invite you to do:

1)     Think about when you might need to use your ritual. What tasks need you to be in a particular mood? Examples might include doing your accounts, writing or reaching out to potential clients. You might like to create a few different rituals depending on the type of task. Settling in to do your accounts requires a different energy to being charismatic and sparkly, for example.

2)     Think about what you could do to shift your energy and get you in the mood to do the task(s) you just identified. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Environment – where do you want to be when you do this task?

• Music – would a certain type of music help energise or calm you?

• Movement – before settling down to do the work, do you need to dance like a wild thing? Do some slow stretching? Go out for a walk?

• Nourishment – would a cup of your favourite tea help shift things for you? Might it help to have a square or two of your favourite chocolate at your side?

• Inspiration – what inspires you? Nature? Art? TED Talks? Poetry? How could you top yourself up? This could be something small, or perhaps you need to take yourself off for a few hours to get inspired.

3)     Write down your new state-shifting ritual and keep it handy so it’s there to support you whenever you need it.

Let me give you some examples of what this looks like for me.

I can’t think creatively sitting at my desk, so I always take a notebook and pen to the sofa when it’s time to write blog posts. I turn off the music and make myself a herbal tea.

I want to feel present and connected when I’m having Productivity Breakthrough Calls, so again I head for the sofa. Instead of sprawling out, though, this time I have a cushion behind me so I can be upright and comfortable. I light a candle which sits next to my laptop and pop a few drops of essential oil into my diffuser. I set a timer and meditate for 3-5 minutes before the call, so I can shift away from whatever I was doing before and be fully there for the person I’m supporting.

At this time of year, I like to take my laptop out into the garden to spend time working through courses I’ve invested in. Being in a different environment helps me shift into ‘learning’ mode.

It might seem like I’m never at my desk, but I promise I am! When I’m doing routine work that doesn’t require creative thinking you’ll find me sitting here with the radio on and a jug of water at my side. Movement isn’t such a big part of my rituals, but I do use it when I feel myself tensing up or getting stuck with something.

State-shifting rituals can be such a useful tool to help you get things done without feeling like you’re forcing it. How could you make them work for you? Please do share your ideas in the comments below.

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